DailyDot march madness Feedhttp://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/Recent march madness articles from Daily Doten-usTue, 05 Apr 2016 17:03:53 +0000Crying Jordan meme finds its ultimate purpose in NCAA finals upsethttp://www.dailydot.com/unclick/crying-jordan-north-carolina-finals-loss/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/82/76/827641324c6540b7807684a2aec4cff3.jpg'></p>
I don't know much about sports, but I know this: People seem to take it pretty hard when their team loses.<p>So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that basketball legend Michael Jordan was less than thrilled when his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/villanova-beats-north-carolina-ncaa-tournament-finals-crying-jordan/">lost the NCAA championship</a> to Villanova University on Monday night by the margin of a buzzer-beating three-pointer.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pSTdQMHhRZ0wxciIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1BpY2tTaXhQcmV2aWV3cy9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MTU5Njg1NDkzODA5MTUzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Jordan was far from the only Tar Heels fan shocked and dismayed by this upset. But he <em>is</em>&nbsp;the only one whose crying face has <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/crying-jordan/">become a meme</a> that represents this exact feeling. So guess what happened next.<p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0JsZWFjaGVyUmVwb3J0L3N0YXR1cy83MTcxOTI0NDc3MzA3MjA3NjgiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2J1YmJhcHJvZy9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MTY4MTk5NjE2MzYwNDUyIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2VxbG9wcnRudHlodHIvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE2NzgwMTYwMjAxNTIzNT9yZWZfc3JjPXR3c3JjJTVFdGZ3IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1JpY29SaXBvbHkvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE5MzE1NjY5NDA1Njk2MCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1pNYXJ0MzMvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE5MjgwOTk2MzQ3MDg0OCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0x1a2FsaXNzXy9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MTk0MjM4NTIyMzU5ODA5IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2VvcnZpZXRvL3N0YXR1cy83MTcyMDA5MjQ2OTU4NzU1ODQiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0NhdWxkcm9uSUNZTUkvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE5MjA5MzMyNDcyMjE3NiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1JpY29SaXBvbHkvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE5NTQzNDUyODI1NjAwMCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1ByaW5jZU1Kb2ZEU1Uvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzE4OTUxNjQxMTQyMDY3MiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>It's incredible that this popular meme has waited all this time to reveal its true and ultimate purpose.<p></p><p>To his credit, Jordan managed not to cry—he only does that when he's being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. And perhaps that stoicism, combined with the knowledge that the meme will never be more applicable than it was in this circumstance, is what motivated several sportswriters to urge the ongoing joke's retirement.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL01pa2VUcmltV1BUVi9zdGF0dXMvNzE3Mjg5Mzk4NTkzNzgxNzYxIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1RoZUNhdWxkcm9uL3N0YXR1cy83MTczNjM4NTk5MDA3NzIzNTMiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0ZvclRoZVdpbi9zdGF0dXMvNzE3Mzc2NTY3MzI5MDQ2NTI4IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>But no misguided thinkpiece, however timely, can stop a viral juggernaut. Memes don't retire—they only fade away.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL25ldHczcmsvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzM4MTE0MjE0ODY3NzYzMiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3R3ZWV0X2ZhdmVyL3N0YXR1cy83MTczODE1MTE3Njc1OTcwNTYiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3BhdHR5bW8vc3RhdHVzLzcxNzM4Mzg4NzYzOTQyMDkyOCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2JheWFyZWFjaGljazEvc3RhdHVzLzcxNzM3OTg1ODA3NDk2Mzk2OCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3JpY2hfcm9iZXJ0cy9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MzgxMDIxNTQxNDA4NzczIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3J1c3NiZW5ndHNvbi9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MzgwODExODAxMTU3NjMyIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3J1c3NiZW5ndHNvbi9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MzgyNDk1NjE3MDMyMTkzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>So the next time you find yourself arguing that a virtually unlimited source of Internet humor is bad and should go away, stop for a second and ask yourself: Is this really worth crying over?<p></p>
miles@dailydot.com (Miles Klee)Tue, 05 Apr 2016 17:03:53 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/crying-jordan-north-carolina-finals-loss/TwitterUnclickVillanova finishes most exciting NCAA tournament final in history with buzzer-beater 3-pointerhttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/villanova-beats-north-carolina-ncaa-tournament-finals-crying-jordan/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/04/34/043425a97387106792c7ccb0d19c9e9c.jpg'></p>
<p>The most amazing ending to a <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA</a> tournament you've ever seen? Yes, the most amazing ending to a NCAA tournament we've ever seen.</p><p>This video comes courtesy of Kris Jenkins and led Villanova—who once upon a three decades ago, sprung one of the biggest upsets in <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/ncaa/">NCAA</a> tournament finals history—to a 77-74 victory vs. North Carolina on Monday night. </p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pSTd4VkF4V2FIWCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>That's pandemonium (for Villanova fans), nausea (for UNC fans), and pure joy (for everybody else who had the pleasure of watching the contest) in one neat, little vined package.<p></p><p>And it came only seconds after this amazingly clutch shot by UNC's Marcus Paige to tie the game with 4.7 seconds left.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pSTdGWTltd2dJeCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>Thus, in the span of five seconds of game time, UNC fans went from hopeful to jubilant to despondent.<p></p><p>But if Tar Heels fans can take any solace in their loss, it's that perhaps nothing can be worse than this. We're not talking about the defeat at the hands of the underdog Wildcats. We're not talking about the stabbing pain of a buzzer-beater loss. No, we're talking about yet another explosion of the Crying Jordan meme that hopefully soon will die a torturous death. </p><p>With <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/michael-jordan/">Michael Jordan</a>, who became a star while leading the 1982 Tar Heels to the NCAA title, in attendance for Mondays' game in Houston, the Crying Jordan meme—which he has said in the past that <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/michael-jordan-crying-jordan-meme/">he doesn't find hurtful </a>—was out of control.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2Nhc3NwYS9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MTgwNjI2MTE4Mzg1NjY2IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL05CQ1NOL3N0YXR1cy83MTcxOTI4ODQ2NjgyNzY3MzciLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1N3YWdlblN0ZWluXy9zdGF0dXMvNzE3MjA0NTY0NjMwNDgyOTQ2IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>For the record, Jordan wasn't crying at the end of the game.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pSVp6bTc5dlQxZyIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>And thus let us now say this: Your job is done, Crying Jordan meme. You may now burn in hell along with <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/kermit-the-frog/">Kermit the Frog</a> sipping his tea and the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/villanova-piccolo-girl-played-with-the-roots/">crying Villanova piccolo player</a> meme from last year's NCAA tournament.<p></p><p>Besides, this article shouldn't be celebrating the sadness of a celebrity. It should be to honor the Wildcats, who won their first NCAA title since beating Georgetown in 1985, and received one of the most satisfying title victories ever. Thanks largely to a player in Jenkins who barely played in the first half because of foul trouble and picked up his fourth infraction with 6:50 to play.</p><p>Yet, after Paige hit his double-pump 3-pointer to tie the game, it was up to Jenkins to end it before overtime. </p><p>"Kris Jenkins lives for that moment," Villanova coach Jay Wright told CBS's Jim Nantz after the game. </p><p>Said Jenkins: "I think every shot is going in. That one was no different."</p><p>But North Carolina figured to have the advantage near the basket before Monday's game began. With a team that had pounded Syracuse for 50 points in the paint in the semifinals, that was one reason it was easy to understand why UNC was the favorite heading into the title contest. Why they were seen as <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/final-four-candidates-ncaa-clinton-trump-cruz-sanders/">the Hillary Clinton of the Final Four</a>.</p><p>The Tar Heels surprised Villanova with outstanding 3-point shooting in the first half—and perhaps the facade that UNC, which made 7 of 9 long-range shots in the first half after ranking as the 294th-best 3-point shooting team in the country this season, could survive without great play from its forwards. </p><p>Mostly because UNC got great play from its guards.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pSTdXM2RacEpqQSIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>"Our big guys are not moving very well..." Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said during his halftime interview. "Luckily we're making [3-pointers]."<p></p><p>Yet in the second half, the Wildcats exploited the Tar Heels' ineffectiveness in the paint, and it led them to their first national title since another underdog Villanova team, the lowest-ever seed to win the championship, upset one of the college basketball's elite programs more than 30 years ago.</p><p>Perhaps Monday night's game was even more impressive. Or at the very least more exciting. </p><p>For that, we feel confident in saying this.</p><p>Crying Villanova piccolo player, you are now excused from the Internet.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9PWUhLUXJFelZhOSIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>And while it's time to let Crying Jordan be relegated to irrelevance, we probably won't because we probably can't. &nbsp;<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3JpY2hhcmRkZWl0c2NoL3N0YXR1cy83MTcxOTIyODQyMjQyNzQ0MzIiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><em>Photo via CBS</em><p></p>
jkatzowitz@thedailydot.com (Josh Katzowitz)Tue, 05 Apr 2016 04:43:24 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/villanova-beats-north-carolina-ncaa-tournament-finals-crying-jordan/SportsUpstreamThe Final Four preview, and how Donald Trump is basically Syracusehttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/final-four-candidates-ncaa-clinton-trump-cruz-sanders/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/44/51/4451aad37695e59209e95efa1710849c.jpg'></p>
<p>We’ve made it to the Final Four, in college basketball and in candidacy for America’s highest office. Tonight North Carolina takes on Syracuse in the national semifinals, while Oklahoma tangos with Villanova.</p><p>This year, the team’s essences match candidates like ovals in perfectly round holes—which is to say it’s an imperfect science with which we will nevertheless experiment. (<a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/john-kasich">John Kasich</a>&nbsp;didn't make the cut.)</p><h2><strong>North Carolina is Hillary Clinton</strong></h2><p>The Tar Heels are the prohibitive favorites and resident blue bloods of the group and the college basketball world. Like <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/hillary-clinton">Hillary Clinton</a> and her strong foreign policy experience, the Tar Heels should win the national championship. The program is privileged, with just a <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/hillary-clinton-was-liberal-hillary-clinton-is-liberal/" target="_blank">smidgen of liberalism</a>, but not too much blue.&nbsp;</p><p>The state of North Carolina isn’t living its best life, with its legislature <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/politics/we-are-not-this-anti-trans-north-carolina-response/" target="_blank">passing LGBT laws</a> onto the public like kidney stones. The team, however, hasn’t looked better. They are experienced, have excellent guard play, and a dominant player with a knack for rebounding—which is, incidentally, one of Clinton’s best attributes. It runs in the family. </p><p>Despite his two national titles, coach Roy Williams has a reputation for buckling under pressure more recently, but also dating back to his days as the head man at&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_NCAA_Men%27s_Division_I_Basketball_Championship_Game" target="_blank">Kansas</a>. He continually plays with stacked decks, in regard to his usual <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/nba">NBA</a>-level talent. But there’s always something in the way, the thing you should’ve seen coming. Similarly, Hillary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_presidential_campaign,_2008" target="_blank">couldn’t</a> keep (future) <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/obama">President Obama</a> out of the winner’s circle, when it seemed to be her time. </p><p>To prevent the upset, the Heels will need to keep <strike>Bernie Sanders from winning more states</strike> Syracuse to one shot per possession, and wear down the interior of the Orangemen’s vaunted 2-3 zone D.</p><p><strong></strong></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vY2RuMC5kYWlseWRvdC5jb20vdXBsb2FkZWQvaW1hZ2VzL29yaWdpbmFsLzIwMTYvNC8yL2pvcmRhbi5qcGciLCJjcmVkaXQiOiJDQlNTcG9ydHMuY29tIiwiY3JlZGl0TGluayI6IiIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJ3aWR0aCI6IiIsInRleHR3cmFwIjoiIiwidHlwZSI6ImltYWdlIn0."></div><p></p><h2><strong>Syracuse is Donald Trump</strong></h2><p>Perfect match, same color and everything. You have an annoying (<a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-donald-trump-hacked-the-media/" target="_blank">and apparently dangerous</a>) fringe entry, from a traditionally elitist set—a set that would much rather be represented by someone else—saying and doing whatever is necessary. Like <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, the Orangemen <a href="http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/syracuse-is-the-biggest-cinderella-ncaa-tournament" target="_blank">weren’t even supposed to be here</a> at this juncture. They backed up into the tournament, simply through affiliation to the Republican Party, err, the Atlantic Coast Conference. </p><p>Yet, here they are, front and center—doing amazing things like dominating Virginia in the Elite Eight, during a most improbable comeback performance. Suddenly, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Generals" target="_blank">Washington Generals</a>-recalling Virginia Cavaliers forgot how to make shots from the floor. It was so unusual—a <a href="https://twitter.com/danWorthington/status/714244139836112897/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">choke job</a> so unique and specific—that you’d think the game was thrown, if you didn’t know any better. Filled with upset fever, public sentiment is at an all-time high.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/77stina/status/715891689299255296" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tLzc3c3RpbmEvc3RhdHVzLzcxNTg5MTY4OTI5OTI1NTI5NiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><p></p><p>(The Cavaliers have to be <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/marco-rubio">Marco Rubio</a>. I mean could he have lost to Trump given his money and good looks? He played it entirely too safe, on-message, when his trademark antagonism should have been the choice—because constant passive aggression was usually his political play. Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist stated, with prescience, “He may not be angry enough to win a Republican primary this year.” The same could be said about the Cavaliers’ smothered quest.)</p><p>Back to the Orangemen and Trump. They can’t win. (You know he’ll ruin America like the <a href="http://deadspin.com/5370591/donald-trump-goes-all-bitchcakes-on-a-third-rate-espn-filmmaker" target="_blank">USFL</a>, right?) As for the basketball team, Michael Gbinije and Malachi Richardson need to dominate Carolina’s wings, and consistently draw contact from Carolina’s magnificent front line—especially Brice Johnson, who’s basically a less crazy Kenyon Martin minus the shot-blocking presence.</p><h3><strong>Prediction</strong></h3><p>Carolina, like Clinton below, should win comfortably, something like 77-65. </p><p><strong></strong></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2FzZWl0endhbGQvc3RhdHVzLzcxNTUwNDU3NzY1OTk5MDAxNiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><p></p><p>Why do you have the feeling it’s going to be closer than it ought to be? If you’re a betting person, take the <a href="http://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/odds" target="_blank">points</a>. Heels win by less than the 9.5 given over 'Cuse.</p><h2><strong>Oklahoma is Ted Cruz</strong></h2><p>Makes sense—so red, it’s maroon. Politics aside, <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ted-cruz">Ted Cruz</a> is an impressive man. He graduated cum laude from Princeton, magna cum laude from Harvard Law. The senator was once voted one of the best 50 lawyers in the country, and then became Texas Solicitor General. Unfortunately, Cruz hasn’t proven himself <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/37a2377a-f11e-11e5-a609-e9f2438ee05b.html#axzz44WbZnnWD" target="_blank">quite trustworthy</a>&nbsp;in the Senate—much less a presidential candidate—losing in odd situations</p><p>One of the principle reasons lies in his nebulous state of being. He’s almost American, technically a Canadian posing as a Texan. Like how Oklahoma pretends it’s almost Texas. The Sooners are close and the imitation is flattering.&nbsp;</p><p>Psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” The problem with the perimeter-oriented Sooners, like Cruz and his <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lets-be-serious-about-ted-cruz-from-the-start-hes-too-extreme-and-too-disliked-to-win/" target="_blank">hyper-agressive conservatism</a>? A penchant for leaning too heavy toward one way to score—Buddy Hield's outside shooting. The senior can be completely devastating. What happens if a team can turn off that valve?</p><p>Villanova <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/villanova-kansas-ncaa-tournament.html?_r=0" target="_blank">has been defending like crazy</a>, all over the floor. The Wildcats limited Kansas—one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country—to a paltry 4-of-18 from range. Like what Cruz should’ve done to Trump, Oklahoma must overwhelm the Wildcats early and often, and inform them of their slight talent advantage. If Nova is within low single digits with, say, four minutes left, the Sooners will probably lose. If Hield scores less than 25, the Sooners will probably lose. If the game hovers no higher than the lower 70s, the Sooners will probably lose. </p><p>There is a theme. Despite the Sooners’ domination of the Wildcats in a December non-conference matchup—a 23-point victory—Oklahoma must show the complete toolset to make the final.</p><h2><strong>Villanova is Bernie Sanders</strong></h2><p><a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/bernie-sanders">Bernie Sanders</a> <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/24/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-was-roll-call-amendment-king-1995-2/" target="_blank">just gets a lot done</a> when you’re not looking. The “roll call amendment king” pulls up with an impressive record, by most counts. Fitting the Wildcats’ deep blue uniforms, Sanders’s resume, in regards to socioeconomic justice and equality, ranks first among his competitors by a country mile. </p><p>While significantly fuzzy across some fronts—chiefly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/12/bernie-sanders-still-wont-update-his-message-on-race-issues/" target="_blank">economic equality specifically for African-Americans</a>, or any minority grouping born starting life from behind—Sanders is on the same frontlines he fought along during the Civil Rights era. However, let’s be honest with ourselves. He doesn’t look presidential. Like Villanova, there is not one ounce of apparent star quality. The Big East champions actually don’t appear to be anything special at all.</p><p>But the senator from Vermont offers lessons for foes who&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/03/14/has-bernie-sanders-been-underestimated" target="_blank">underestimate and overlook</a>. Led by Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins, and Ryan Arcidiacono, Jay Wright’s Wildcats are likewise skilled, but do it by committee, no man more important that the other. What they lack in physical talent is more than made up with tremendous toughness, effort, and resolve. Holding most of the hallmarks of championship teams—excellent guard play, good-enough rebounding, efficient offense (1.27 points per possession in the NCAA tournament)—there is definitely some sense of destiny. Most junkyard dog-laden teams don’t find themselves with 30-plus wins in a season, after all.</p><h3><strong>Prediction</strong></h3><p>Even as highly seeded team, it feels like Villanova shouldn’t be in this position. A program with the eighth-most NCAA appearances, five Final Fours, and a national championship on its resume—located in a city with deep basketball roots—shouldn’t require a double take, even among casual fans.</p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0pDbGFya0NTTi9zdGF0dXMvNzE1OTAzODAxMzU0MzkxNTUyIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p>Wildcats win by five over Hield's Sooners, 75-69, gaining an opportunity to add another banner.&nbsp;</p>
spearmankahron@gmail.com (Kahron Spearman)Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:11:05 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/final-four-candidates-ncaa-clinton-trump-cruz-sanders/SportsUpstreamLayer 8Unclick'Game of Thrones' ups the March Madness excitement with new promohttp://www.dailydot.com/parsec/game-of-thrones-march-madness-promo/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/8b/2d/8b2dd6843c19e4fe86e42d82ba79cc2f.jpg'></p>
<p><a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/">March Madness</a> is already intense and ripe with fan hype on its own, but <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/game-of-thrones/" target="_self"><em>Game of Thrones</em></a> managed to up the ante even further.</p><p>A 30-second commercial for the show’s <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/game-of-thrones-season-6-preview/">upcoming sixth season</a> <a href="http://watchersonthewall.com/mysterious-new-game-of-thrones-footage-popping-up-today/" target="_blank">aired during one of the tournament’s games Friday night</a>, but fans who weren’t watching college basketball had to wait until the following day to see the official promo online (or settle for a poor-quality copy until then). And while we already recognize some of the footage from the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/game-of-thrones-season-6-trailer-footage/" target="_self">previous trailer</a>, <em>Game of Thrones</em> packs a hell of a punch in the little time it has.</p><p>There’s no clear sign of <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/jon-snow/" target="_self">Jon Snow</a> in this promo—unless you’re of the belief that he’s <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/game-of-thrones-trailer-season-6-theories/" target="_self">riding a horse</a> in the background at approximately 0:21—but the other major players are still moving the pieces, unaware of what’s yet to come. Drogon is keeping an eye on <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/daenerys-targaryen/">Daenerys Targaryen</a> in <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/game-of-thrones-script-page-dothraki-elie-haddad/">Vaes Dothrak</a>, <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/tyrion-lannister/">Tyrion Lannister</a> attempts to keep Meereen from descending into chaos, and even the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/game-of-thrones-asoiaf-oathkeeper-spoiler/">Night’s King</a> is moving forward—grabbing Bran in what most of us thought was one of his visions. </p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PWRLcmhnVkZUSTZJIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>“You’re in the great game now, and the great game is terrifying,” Tyrion warns once again, which works as much for March Madness as it does in Westeros.<p></p><p><em>Screengrab via </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrhgVFTI6I" target="_blank"><em>GameofThrones</em></a><em>/YouTube</em></p>
michelle@dailydot.com (Michelle Jaworski)Sun, 27 Mar 2016 17:35:12 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/parsec/game-of-thrones-march-madness-promo/ParsecThe 16 sweets people order most during the Sweet 16http://www.dailydot.com/irl/most-popular-sweets-ncaa-sweet-16/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/73/ad/73ad50d5ee66c8b9b93a2a01fd57f94f.jpg'></p>
If you've spent <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a>&nbsp;glued to your couch and ordered food for delivery more than you'd like to admit, you're not alone. During game days when Villanova won this year, <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/grubhub">Grubhub</a> noticed a <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/the-insider/Villanova-to-beat-Miami-What-food-to-order.html">significant spike</a> in orders like fried rice, sweet potato sushi rolls, and cheese fries in the Philadelphia area. With the <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA'</a>s Sweet 16 due to begin today, expect a similar trend in dessert orders.&nbsp;<p>Grubhub crunched the numbers on dessert orders in the period leading up to last year's Sweet 16 and saw a significant spike in them. Blame it on subliminal messaging or mere game-time enthusiasm, but there's a definite rise in couch-ridden sweet tooths during the peak of college basketball season.</p><p>Here are the 16 most commonly ordered desserts online during the Sweet 16, ranked by the percentage increase in orders:&nbsp;</p><h2>16) Apple pie&nbsp;</h2><p>7.6 percent more common</p><p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFJNUzVjTHhReC8_dGFnZ2VkPWFwcGxlcGllIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">15) Carrot cake&nbsp;</span></p><p>9.7 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFJJRHN2akxDbS8_dGFnZ2VkPWNhcnJvdGNha2UiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">14) Brownie&nbsp;</span></p><p>12.6 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFVaMlJfc2FQbi8_dGFnZ2VkPWJyb3duaWVzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">13) Mochi ice cream</span></p><p>14.2 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFZvcmRoSHZDTS8_dGFnZ2VkPW1vY2hpIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">12) Baklava&nbsp;</span></p><p>19.3 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFZvQTVxd0pNVS8_dGFnZ2VkPWJha2xhdmEiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">11) Chocolate chip cookies&nbsp;</span></p><p>&nbsp;25.3 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFR2dHZOdlUwWS8_dGFnZ2VkPWNob2NvbGF0ZWNoaXBjb29raWVzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">10) New York cheesecakes&nbsp;</span></p><p>30 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRE5NT3ZnaThnVS8_dGFnZ2VkPW5ld3lvcmtjaGVlc2VjYWtlIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">9) Tiramisu&nbsp;</span></p><p>31 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFF5aVRPTDJBRS8_dGFnZ2VkPXRpcmFtaXN1IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">8) Cannoli&nbsp;</span></p><p>33.6 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFVzYVpVbDZhWi8_dGFnZ2VkPWNhbm5vbGkiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">7) Just plain old cheesecakes (for people who hate NYC)</span></p><p>43.9 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFRNSmZtemJsWi8_dGFnZ2VkPWNoZWVzZWNha2UiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">6) Banana pudding</span></p><p>&nbsp;44.1 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRE9yVDdFakliNC8_dGFnZ2VkPWJhbmFuYXB1ZGRpbmciLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">5) Flan&nbsp;</span></p><p>45.8 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFB0ZTQ1T3h2bS8_dGFnZ2VkPWZsYW4iLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">4) Strawberry cheesecakes&nbsp;</span></p><p>49 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC81amh2WTFwSWNoLz90YWdnZWQ9c3RyYXdiZXJyeWNoZWVzZWNha2VzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><span style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: Lato, Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;">3) Chocolate cakes&nbsp;</span></p><p>52.7 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRE1nTU80cWJady8_dGFnZ2VkPWNob2NvbGF0ZWNha2VzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><h2>2) Zeppole&nbsp;</h2><p>55.5 percent more common</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CRFRNVlcwS2xBei8_dGFnZ2VkPXplcHBvbGVzYW5naXVzZXBwZSIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><h3><br></h3><h3>And the winner of the Sweet 16 is the all-American...</h3><h2>1) Churros&nbsp;</h2><p>78.8 percent more commonly found in orders during the Sweet 16 than any other day of the year. Wow, how we Americans love our <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/food-white-people-ruined-2015/">culturally appropriated desserts</a> during national sporting events.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CQzJ6WUpUU1JqVC8_dGFrZW4tYnk9bGVjaHVycm9zdGF0aW9uIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/55456389@N03/5141919403/in/photolist-bA9NJe-8QnFuP-8QnFu6-ap5zqv-9ZnMgE-ap5zKP-5n4ZLe-5n9g9f-5n4ZNZ-5n9gdJ-bTvAZD-bEATx9-6XwihE-4ZJNMR-6Xwj29-bueP2E-6XsiDZ-5EZVyF-bxtnPQ-4ZP36f-5EZVzn-8X1uu-dva5vU-buCdeo-apjWL1-5b3Z9r-dv4unM-4Cdi6z-dv4tcD-6Gc9JS-dv4uVk-bDzVL8-DNVCG2-ELiNbR">Christina McKenzie</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
<p></p>
akhalid@dailydot.com (Amrita Khalid)Thu, 24 Mar 2016 23:03:04 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/irl/most-popular-sweets-ncaa-sweet-16/IRLBill Murray just became the new Crying Jordan memehttp://www.dailydot.com/unclick/bill-murray-crying-jordan-meme-xavier/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/39/ce/39ce4c7784bc862614301c37d9746b2f.jpg'></p>
<p>The first weekend of the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/ncaa/">NCAA</a> tournament saw all the usual exciting finishes, buzzer-beaters, upsets, and general cacophony that make it one of the best sporting events in the entire world. It's called <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a> for a reason, and the first four days of the 2016 tournament didn't disappoint. </p><p>Unless your name happens to be <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/bill-murray/">Bill Murray</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>But that's the way it goes sometimes: Seventh-seeded Wisconsin knocked off No. 2 seed Xavier on Sunday night with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, ending the season for—among others—Xavier assistant coach Luke Murray, whose father just so happens to be the beloved actor/comedian. </p><p>First, the shot by Bronson Koenig, one of the most-exciting moments of the tournament thus far:</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9pZFAyRmpCVE9LTyIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>And the reaction.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2NqemVyby9zdGF0dXMvNzExNzQ1OTk0NjM2MDYyNzIwP3JlZl9zcmM9dHdzcmNedGZ3IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>The reaction to the reaction was all too predictable. <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/bill-murray/">Bill Murray</a>, you are the new Crying Jordan meme, the viral image that turned <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/michael-jordan/">Michael Jordan's</a> teary-eyed Hall of Fame speech from 2009 into a recurring punchline for whenever a sports squad suffers a heartbreaking defeat.<p></p><p>And <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/communities/twitter/">Twitter</a> users had a field day with the update on Sunday. </p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0RlenlIdW1lL3N0YXR1cy83MTE3NTE4Mzk1MTE4NzE0ODk_cmVmX3NyYz10d3NyY150ZnciLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0JyeWNlYXJvbmk4L3N0YXR1cy83MTE3NDU1NDE4MTQ3NDcxMzY_cmVmX3NyYz10d3NyYyU1RXRmdyIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2x1a2V6aW0vc3RhdHVzLzcxMTc0NTIzMzk0NDM1ODkxMz9yZWZfc3JjPXR3c3JjJTVFdGZ3IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2tldmFudHJpY2gvc3RhdHVzLzcxMTc0NzQyNjg5ODU4MzU1Mz9yZWZfc3JjPXR3c3JjJTVFdGZ3IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Jordan already has made it clear that <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/michael-jordan-crying-jordan-meme/">he doesn't mind the Crying Jordan meme</a>—mostly because it's not costing him money. There's no word on whether Murray cares about his new role in it, but others immediately bristled at the notion that Murray had been fashioned into the meme.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1RyYXZIYW5leUVTUE4vc3RhdHVzLzcxMTc0NzM3NTYxMDUyNzc0NCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1Jvc2VuYmVyZ19NaWtlL3N0YXR1cy83MTE3NDY4NjE4MzMzODgwMzMiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div>Either way, we know there's only one way for Murray to feel better—and to make us all feel that the world is right again. It's time for Murray to get to work on <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/wu-tang-clan-album-loophole-bill-murray/">screwing over Martin Shkreli</a>.<p></p><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://twitter.com/ShortList/status/711915072659050496/photo/1">Shortlist Magazine</a>/Twitter</em></p>
jkatzowitz@thedailydot.com (Josh Katzowitz)Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:21:38 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/bill-murray-crying-jordan-meme-xavier/UnclickFacebook Messenger's mini March Madness game will destroy your productivityhttp://www.dailydot.com/debug/facebook-messenger-basketball-game/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/32/fd/32fd3ad036ebbcd10bb5f2b990d468fb.jpg'></p>
<p>Just in time for <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a>, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/facebook-messenger">Facebook Messenger</a>’s latest app update includes a hidden basketball minigame that is sure to absolutely destroy your productivity for the day. Fair warning: If you want to get anything meaningful done today, you should probably stop reading right now. </p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vY2RuMC5kYWlseWRvdC5jb20vdXBsb2FkZWQvaW1hZ2VzL29yaWdpbmFsLzIwMTYvMy8xOC9za2l0Y2hlZC0yMDE2MDMxOC0wOTE2MzIuanBnIiwiY3JlZGl0IjoiTWlrZSBXZWhuZXIiLCJjcmVkaXRMaW5rIjoiIiwiY2FwdGlvbiI6IiIsIndpZHRoIjoiIiwidGV4dHdyYXAiOiIiLCJ0eXBlIjoiaW1hZ2UifQ.."></div>For those of you still here, this is how the game is accessed:<p></p><p></p><ol><li>First, make sure your Facebook Messenger app is updated to the latest version</li><li>Send a basketball emoji to the person you want to challenge.</li><li>Once they receive it, tap the basketball on your screen.</li><li>If you beat a high score, click the “Back” button to post it to your chat window. This will automatically update the high score on your opponent’s screen as well.</li></ol><p></p><p>The gameplay is fairly straightforward but also extremely challenging. A basketball will appear on the bottom of the screen, and it’s your job to flick it into the hoop. The ball will reposition itself after each successful basket, so you’ll have to adjust your shots accordingly. Oh, and once you successfully score 10 consecutive buckets—no easy task—the basket itself begins moving back and forth across the screen, making things exponentially more difficult.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vY2RuMC5kYWlseWRvdC5jb20vdXBsb2FkZWQvaW1hZ2VzL29yaWdpbmFsLzIwMTYvMy8xOC9TY3JlZW5fU2hvdF8yMDE2LTAzLTE4X2F0XzkuMTguMzRfQU0ucG5nIiwiY3JlZGl0IjoiTWlrZSBXZWhuZXIiLCJjcmVkaXRMaW5rIjoiIiwiY2FwdGlvbiI6IiIsIndpZHRoIjoiIiwidGV4dHdyYXAiOiIiLCJ0eXBlIjoiaW1hZ2UifQ.."></div>Seeing your opponent gradually increasing their high score, and the subsequent urge to prove that you can do the same, is surprisingly addicting for such a simple game. Perhaps Facebook should spend more time on things like this and less time <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/technology/facebook-apps-ranked/">trying to duplicate everyone else’s ideas</a>.&nbsp;<p></p><p><em>H/T <a href="http://www.androidcentral.com/heres-how-you-can-play-facebook-messengers-hidden-basketball-game">Android Central</a> | Screengrab via Mike Wehner</em></p>
mwehner@dailydot.com (Mike Wehner)Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:54:31 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/debug/facebook-messenger-basketball-game/DebugHere's how to livestream March Madness 2016 for freehttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/how-to-livestream-march-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/a2/5e/a25e1291a07dbefe3dca3cf611eb718d.jpg'></p>
This year's <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA</a> tournament is in full swing. Whether you've bet large in your office <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/">March Madness</a>&nbsp;pool or are just a rabid fan of college basketball, you're going to want to watch game after game. If you don't have basic cable but somehow got suckered into hosting a <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/112641/marshall-plumlees-big-second-half-helps-duke-subdue-uncw">UNC Wilmington vs. Duke</a>&nbsp;watch party, you'll have to figure out how to stream March Madness online. Ditto if you want to sneak a peak at March Madness during work, or on your phone while killing time waiting for the subway.&nbsp;<p>Worry not, March Madness has got you covered across multiple platforms. As in previous years, all 67 NCAA games will be streamed <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live">online</a>&nbsp;on<a href="http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live"> March Madness Live</a>. Most (including all CBS games) will be free to watch. But games that air on TBS, TNT, or TruTV—including the Final Four and the national championship games—will require you to login and verify you have access to those channels. There are a couple of other options for those games, which we'll get to later.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lmluc3RhZ3JhbS5jb20vcC9CREQ0Tkw5akxpQy8_dGFrZW4tYnk9bWFyY2htYWRuZXNzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>First things first. Download the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ncaa-march-madness-live/id423246594?mt=8">March Madness Live app</a>&nbsp;on all the devices with which you want to watch the tournament. NCAA's free app is available on virtually every device this year and is the central point where you'll find all 67 March Madness games. The app also has plenty of extra content, like highlights and in-depth analysis, to excite NCAA geeks for hours. The app even lets you&nbsp;<a href="http://www.universityprimetime.com/march-madness-app-lets-you-switch-picks-during-live-games/">switch picks</a>&nbsp;on your bracket during the game.&nbsp;<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL1Rha2VfSXRfU2xlYXp5Xy9zdGF0dXMvNzEwNDk0OTM2MzIwMzUyMjU5IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Want to watch March Madness on your phone while in the middle of a boring lecture, meeting, or date? Just fire up the app on your phone. If you're a traditionalist and want to watch the game on your television, the app is available on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/4af4em/ncaa_march_madness_app_can_chromecast/">Chromecast</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Turner-Sports-Interactive-Inc-Madness/dp/B00IRN4K2Q/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=mobile-apps&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458245796&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=march+madness">Roku</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Turner-Sports-Interactive-Inc-Madness/dp/B00IRN4K2Q/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=mobile-apps&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1458245796&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=march+madness">FireTV</a>, and most likely any other streaming device of your choice.&nbsp;<p></p><p>Now you're all set to watch the free CBS games, but what about the rest of March Madness? The app gives viewers a three-hour grace period to watch any of the games on TBS, TNT, and TruTV before asking for credentials.&nbsp;</p><p>If three measly hours of March Madness isn't enough for you and you're not above working the system, here are a couple of <a href="http://www.wired.com/2016/03/stream-march-madness-2016-dont-cable/">harmless-to-shady March Madness hacks</a>&nbsp;from the folks at <a href="http://www.wired.com/2016/03/stream-march-madness-2016-dont-cable/"><em>Wired</em></a>.&nbsp;</p><p>One in particular is perfect if you have the <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464?hl=en">Chrome Incognito</a> browser installed.&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="">"The easiest way to watch the games without cable is to open a Chrome Incognito window. Watch a game on the March Madness Live site, close the window, open another one, and start the next game. Rinse and repeat through the tournament. "</blockquote><p>If you don't have cable but have a Chromecast, Roku, FireTV, or any other steaming device, one option is to subscribe to a service like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sling.com/">SlingTV</a>. SlingTV is like a no-strings-attached basic cable package for your streaming device. It's $20 per month to subscribe to SlingTV, but there's a seven-day free trial that you can cancel after March Madness is over.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/katerha/4398185123/in/photolist-4ynRSR-bnFyWL-EQ9mix-9rqzZp-6bLjZS-kZeBZ8-7GDRcZ-bo49DJ-4BGSsB-bsXzxG-7HsHJM-DYRmzw-7MKwES-nauXNC-bFKVZH-rG3Vtb-64qbTH-9tkm2X-mi4hzR-69f5w">Kate Ter Haar</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
akhalid@dailydot.com (Amrita Khalid)Thu, 17 Mar 2016 21:05:09 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/how-to-livestream-march-madness/UpstreamLGBT groups want NCAA to divest from Christian schools seeking Title IX exemptionshttp://www.dailydot.com/irl/lgbt-ncaa-divest-colleges-title-ix/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/03/19/0319144814e6bbba68890bf49875b963.jpg'></p>
While you're cheering for your favorite basketball team, a coalition of more than 80 civil rights groups are rooting for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to divest from colleges they say are using sneaky red tape to discriminate against <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/lgbt/">LGBT</a> students.<p>For&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/technology/bing-predicts-ncaa-tournament-march-madness/">March Madness</a>, the group Campus Pride has created a different kind of bracket: It's called <a href="https://www.campuspride.org/shamelist/">#ShameList</a>, and it's made up of religious colleges and universities that have requested the government waive Title IX's federal anti-discrimination protections from their campuses. According to Campus Pride and the 80-plus civil rights organizations that signed on to a <a href="https://www.campuspride.org/shamelist/takeactionNCAA/">letter addressed to the NCAA</a>, those schools are using Title IX waivers to get out of having to treat LGBT students like everyone else.</p><p>“Religion-based bigotry is the basis for the vast majority of prejudice and discrimination LGBTQ people face, especially young people,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, in a statement emailed to the Daily Dot. “The NCAA cannot stand for this outright discrimination among its member institutions and we urge them to take action to ensure an inclusive sports culture that is safe and fair for all athletes, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."</p><p><a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/overview-title-ix-education-amendments-1972-20-usc-1681-et-seq">Title IX</a> was signed into law in 1972 in order to ensure equal opportunities for female students. In the decades since, the law came to represent an ongoing struggle to ensure equal funding for women's athletics programs and, most recently, anti-discrimination protections for LGBT students. After the Department of Education issued <a href="http://www.glsen.org/article/dept-ed-title-ix-protects-trans-students">clarifying guidance in 2014 stating that Title IX protections extended to transgender students</a>—specifically their right to access bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identities—conservative religious schools began to ramp up applications for Title IX waivers.</p><p>As it turns out, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/christian-college-protests-title-ix-waivers/">Title IX is considered optional</a>—not mandatory—for religious-based educational institutions.</p><p>When reached for comment, an NCAA spokesperson did not directly address whether it would consider divesting from these schools. Instead, the spokesperson told the Daily Dot: "The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights oversees Title IX and its waiver process, not the NCAA."&nbsp;</p><p>In September, the conservative Christian Legal Society hosted a <a href="http://thecolu.mn/21270/dozens-christian-schools-win-title-ix-waivers-ban-lgbt-students">conference instructing Christian colleges applying for Title IX waivers</a>, and the CLS website offers extensive guidance on "<a href="http://clsnet.org/document.doc?id=874">same-sex issues</a>" that colleges are encouraged to copy and paste into their own existing policies.&nbsp;</p><p>A similar conservative legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom, offers guidance on its website that challenges the validity of Title IX protections altogether. In a February post titled "<a href="http://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/blog-details/allianceedge/2016/02/16/6-myths-about-allowing-transgender-students-to-use-restrooms-of-the-opposite-sex">6 Myths About Allowing Transgender Students to Use Restrooms of the Opposite Sex</a>," ADF attorney Matt Sharp wrote that "denying a transgender student access to the restroom consistent with his or her gender identity harms the student" is a "myth," and adds cases of legal precedent where courts ruled against LGBT students in favor of discriminatory school policies.</p><p>According to the LGBT student faith group Soulforce, over 200 schools nationwide hold some sort of Title IX waiver. Campus Pride's <a href="https://www.campuspride.org/shamelist/">#ShameList</a>&nbsp;mentions 37 colleges that already have the waivers, with 22 more with pending applications. More than half of the campuses listed are members of the NCAA.</p><p>“As people of faith or spirit, we call upon the NCAA to act on its stated values as an LGBTQ inclusive organization and divest from these schools who are willfully and intentionally creating unsafe environments for LGBTQ students,” said Jordyn Sun, national campus organizer at Soulforce, in a statement emailed to the Daily Dot. “No athlete should play sports under the specter of fear and discrimination. Instead, these schools should simply follow the law."</p><p>Among the 80-plus organizations that signed the letter pressuring the NCAA to divest from waiver-seeking schools are GLAAD, PFLAG, TransAthlete, the Tyler Clementi Foundation, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Matthew Shepard Foundation.</p><p>The letter is the latest move in the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/christian-college-protests-title-ix-waivers/">#GiveBackIX campaign</a>, which began organizing students at religious institutions in December.</p><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/greatlakes_chennai/6264384532/">Great Lakes Institute of Management</a>/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed</em></p>
mohara@dailydot.com (Mary Emily O'Hara)Thu, 17 Mar 2016 12:45:44 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/irl/lgbt-ncaa-divest-colleges-title-ix/IRLCan Bing finally pick the perfect March Madness bracket?http://www.dailydot.com/debug/bing-predicts-ncaa-tournament-march-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/13/69/136948a278f524c5ebb7eb4e48d7ce87.jpg'></p>
<p>If there's one defining feature for the annual NCAA college basketball tournament, it's unpredictability. Upsets occur on the regular during <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a>. This year, <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/microsoft">Microsoft</a> is partnering with the NCAA to spot those upsets before the players hit the court.</p><p>The partnership will put <a href="http://www.bing.com/explore/predicts">Bing Predicts</a>—a prediction engine that uses machine-learned models to analyze and detect trends from the Web, social activity, and external data—in the roll of&nbsp;bracketologist, analyzing match ups and offering its take on the eventual winner.</p><p>Walter Sun, principal applied science manager at <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/bing">Bing</a>, told the Daily Dot that Bing Predicts engine is getting some tweaks from last year to improve its analysis. According to Sun, Bing Predicts will "synthesize over a decade of exclusive tournament data including team and player stats, tournament history, schedule information, trends and more."&nbsp;</p><p>Along with the historical data from teams and the tournament, Bing Predicts will also process information gathered by the search engine arm of Bing. Sun explained, "Data from social signals allows Bing’s advanced predictions technology to calculate a confidence percentage and make a case for what needs to happen for either team to win or lose."</p><p>That might make it sound like Bing is a bit of bandwagon fan, jumping on board with whatever team people are talking about, but the system seemed to work out OK last year. "Our predictions for [the NCAA tournament] were in the upper 30 percent," Sun said.</p><p>On the Bing Predicts site, it claims to have been 73 percent accurate during last year's tournament, but that's a pretty generous assessment of the actual results. Once the field was narrowed after the First Four games, Bing did accurately pick the winner of 47 out of 64 games—enough for the claimed 73 percent success rate.</p><p>But Bing Predicts wasn't playing by the same rules as everyone else to get to that score. It analyzed each game individually to arrive at that figure, revising the winner based on who actually advanced. In the bracket that it filled out like everyone else, picking every game—including the First Four—before the tournament begins, Bing Predicts <a href="https://www.firstscribe.com/blog/bing-predicts-brings-data-but-not-accuracy-to-ncaa-basketball/">scored</a> 41 out of 67 games correctly. That's good for a 61 percent success rate.&nbsp;</p><p>It wasn't a score near high enough to put Bing in the upper echelon of <a href="http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en/leaderboard">human</a> pickers, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison. Humans are just trying to get this year right and might have a completely different approach next time; Bing is trying to fine tune its engine so it can consistently generate odds of success for every game, every year.</p><p>Still, last year was a good year for Bing to make its entrance into the tournament pool, and it failed to make a splash. 2015 was a <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/this-years-ncaa-mens-tournament-might-be-the-most-top-heavy-in-15-years/">top-heavy</a> year for the brackets. Kentucky entered March Madness undefeated, and according to the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/about/glossary.html#srs" target="_blank">Simple Rating System</a>&nbsp;(SRS), the tournament had some of the strongest top-seeded teams since the event expanded to 64 teams in 1985.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PWtPdTZiQ0RpWm00IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>When the brackets have dominant teams at the top, it becomes more likely for a "<a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ncaa-basketball-tournament-upsets-chalk/">chalk</a>" outcome—the team with the better seeding tends to win. At one point during the tournament, the better seed won 23 consecutive games.&nbsp;<p></p><p>That's not to say there weren't upsets. When 14 seeds University of Alabama at Birmingham and Georgia State beat 3 seeds Iowa State and Baylor in the first round, more than 99 percent of people had their shot at a perfect bracket <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ncaa-basketball-tournament-upsets-chalk/">ruined</a>. But it was, to some degree, an "easy" year.</p><p>This year, the choices for Bing Predicts and everyone else filling out a bracket won't be quite as clear. The NCAA has been full of parity this year. There is no dominant team or clear top tier, meaning teams sliding into the mid and lower seeds have a better chance to provide some surprises.</p><p>Sun said that poses no problem for the Bing Predicts engine. Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to prove the system's worth. "Greater parity allows us to provide insights on more close match-ups which might not be as obvious," he explained.</p><p>At the professional ranks, the <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/nba">NBA</a> and WNBA use a series system that has teams playing a best-of-seven game contest to determine who advances. This almost always leads to the better team winning. According to <a href="http://www.sportingcharts.com/articles/nba/upsets-and-the-nba-playoffs-do-lower-seeds-even-have-a-chance.aspx">SportingCharts</a>, the worse seeded team has only a 16.7 percent chance of winning a series in seven games.&nbsp;</p><p>By contrast, every game in the NCAA Tournament is winner-take-all. To add to the variation, most of the match-ups are against teams that are from different regions and conferences, meaning there's next to no familiarity with their players and strategies. If each round was a best-of-seven series, trends would begin to emerge, teams would adjust, and it would be much more likely the better seeded team would advance.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PVBlczkxWGRmSnNNIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Odds are good that no model is ever going to accurately predict the entirety of the NCAA Tournament—which is the point of the format in the first place. The best team doesn't always win.&nbsp;<p></p><p>There's a case to be made that the NCAA Tournament model produces a worse product in the end. Take the 2014 Championship game between the seven seed Connecticut and eight seed Kentucky. The three best players in the country and top three draft picks in that year's NBA draft—Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, and Joel Emiid—were bounced from the tournament early when their teams suffered upsets in the early rounds.&nbsp;</p><p>As much as everyone likes an upset in the moment, when it comes to the finals, most people want the best teams possible facing off. That didn't happen, and viewership of the 2014 title game <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/04/15/nielsen-ratings-week-of-april-7-mad-men-justified-mtv-movie-awards/7744017/">dropped</a> by over 2 million from the prior year's match-up.</p><p>Bing's prediction engine will likely get better this year, even if it doesn't get as many picks right. The more data it has, the better it can parse the statistics that indicate advantages for each team and calculate the likely winner. But it's always going to miss some games.&nbsp;</p><p>There are over&nbsp;<a href="http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/03/what_are_the_odds_a_perfect_ma.html">9.2 quintillion</a> possible combinations for a 64-team bracket. With some basic knowledge of the tournament—knowing a 16 seed has never beaten a one seed, for example—DePaul mathematician Jeffrey Bergen estimates the odds of picking a perfect bracket to be low as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/16/buffett-quicken-ncaa-bracket-march-madness-billion-dollars/6410185/" target="_blank">one in 128 billion</a>. Not even the finest-tuned algorithm is likely to beat those odds.</p><p><em>H/T <a href="http://www.geekwire.com/2016/bing-inks-deal-with-ncaa-for-march-madness-predictions/">GeekWire</a> |&nbsp;Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chadcooperphotos/13371774995">Chad Cooper</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
AJ DellingerWed, 16 Mar 2016 12:00:00 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/debug/bing-predicts-ncaa-tournament-march-madness/DebugResearchers discover many March Madness apps are asking for permissions they don't needhttp://www.dailydot.com/debug/march-maddness-apps-privacy-concerns/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/60/d0/60d0c7eb2703f00904fd6fee8bbe07cf.jpg'></p>
<p>Welcome to <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a>, where the excitement is infectious and apparently the apps might be as well. According to new <a href="http://resources.flexerasoftware.com/web/pdf/WhitePaper-AR-Mobile-App-Security-March-Madness.pdf?utm_medium=PR&amp;utm_source=Marketwire&amp;utm_campaign=AR+Rpt+MarchMadness2016">research</a> from&nbsp;<a href="http://t.sidekickopen46.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XYg1pwYlvW2BWhTK1qwl3HW8qC87H56dKspf8d931602?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexerasoftware.com%2F&amp;si=6428527374368768&amp;pi=abefb315-e9ee-4bb2-84b8-c0b496217a04" target="_blank">Flexera Software</a>, popular March Madness apps might be leaving users at risk.</p><p>Flexera took a look at 28 of the most popular <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/iphone">iPhone</a> apps that target March Madness fans who want to catch the action of every game or track the success of their brackets. What it found was that just about every last one of the apps was accessing more information than users were likely aware of.</p><p>A majority of the apps—61 percent—requested access to a device's calendar, while 79 percent of them are capable of accessing the location tracking functionality of the phone. 68 percent of the apps have access to SMS texting functionality and 71 percent include the ability to share data with social networking sites connected to the device.</p><p>Perhaps most shocking is the amount of apps that utilize advertising networks. A whopping 89 percent of the tested apps, including Daily Bracket, <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/espn">ESPN</a> and March Madness Live (the official offering from the <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA</a> for watching tournament games) support such a connection.&nbsp;</p><p>In many of these cases, the apps have large footprints; they are downloaded and used by millions of people. ESPN's flagship app is the ranks first in the Sports category in the iOS App Store has been as high as the 28th most popular app overall since the start of 2016, according to data from <a href="http://appannie.com">App Annie</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Additional information from App Annie shows that March Madness Live has jumped to the top app in the entirety of the App Store in four of the last five years of tournament play. The one year it fell short of the top spot, 2012, it peaked as the second-most downloaded app.</p><p>Other apps, including CBS Sports, Dish, Sports Feed, are installed on millions of phones and see an increase in usage during major events like March Madness.</p><p>Maureen Polte, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera, told the Daily Dot that none of these app behaviors are inherently malicious or
benign, but they do require users to put a significant amount of trust into the app developers.&nbsp;</p><p>Flexera doesn't call out any of the services as actively performing any devious acts unbeknownst to the user, but the risk of it is enough to raise questions. "Our tests are designed to expose what an app is doing on the device and what features, functions and data it can access," Polte said.</p><p>In some cases, these points of access to data managed by the phone can be used in malicious ways. The most prominent example, an Android app called Brightest Flashlight Free, used the disguise of the most innocuous app imaginable to <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/business/flashlight-app-collects-sells-location-data/">collect and transmit</a> geolocation data to third-parties.</p><p>In response to the app's behavior, the Federal Trade Commission accused the developer of deceiving users and <a href="http://ftc.gov/os/caselist/1323087/131205goldenshorescmpt.pdf">noted</a> that the app was collecting "persistent device identifiers that can be used to track a user’s location
over time."</p><p>But even when an app's behavior isn't outwardly sinister, there are still potential risks in providing access to other functions. Polte pointed to an embarrassing case when an employee at the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/kim-kardashian-hollywood-epa-tweet/">tweeted</a> out "“I’m now a C-List celebrity in Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,"—a message shared from the <em>Kim Kardashian: Hollywood</em> app—to the government organization's official account.</p><p>"Unbeknownst to the employee, [the] app had the ability to automatically access the phone’s twitter account and tweet out
messages when certain game thresholds were reached Unfortunately for the EPA, the...device was connected to the EPA’s official twitter account – not the
employee’s," Polte explained.&nbsp;</p><p>In the case of some of the apps in question, it would be reasonable to assume that some permissions are needed for the app to function properly. Some apps point the user to a local establishment that is broadcasting games, for example. Others allow users to invite friends to fill out brackets and compete against one another, which requires permission to SMS or social media profiles.</p><p>Polte said that was "certainly" the case, but emphasized the need for awareness about these possibilities. For businesses and individuals alike, she said, "they must understand what the apps do and how
they behave; and they must make informed decisions about whether those apps are
allowable based on their own risk profile."</p><p>In the case of some of the apps, it is possible for users to take back some control and deny permission to certain aspects of their device, should they want to block any sort of access. However, Polte said that "many users are not aware of the potential risks that certain app behaviors have so they may not even know
to opt out."</p><p>Typically, an app will request access to a certain part of the device, but these rarely explain why that access is necessary. Users are likely to just tap "OK" and move on. Doing so grants the app the ability to connect to potentially collect data until manually denied access.</p><p>Luckily, iOS gives users a considerable amount of control over this. Through the Settings app, users can find a full list of apps installed on their device and manage each permission the app has been granted. This can be used to block or grant behaviors to each app on an individual basis.</p><p>Of course, the main takeaway of the research from Flexera shouldn't be that it is possible to override the overreaching behavior of these apps—it's that many developers are angling for access that shouldn't be required given the service they perform.&nbsp;</p><p>When it comes to privacy and security, most March Madness apps come up short of the Big Dance. At least there's always the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Invitation_Tournament">NIT</a>.</p><p><em>Illustration via Max Fleishman</em></p>
AJ DellingerMon, 14 Mar 2016 12:59:57 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/debug/march-maddness-apps-privacy-concerns/DebugKid that filled out perfect ESPN bracket with father's email denied winningshttp://www.dailydot.com/sports/sixth-grader-won-ncaa-bracket-lost/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/c9/d7/c9d71366616f8b5480b83c8a68c33069.jpg'></p>
<p>Sam Holtz, a Chicago-area sixth-grader, accurately predicted the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/final-four">Final Four</a> in this year's <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA</a> tournament.&nbsp;</p><p>However, since the genius 12-year-old is not at least 18, and only entered the contest using his father's email address, ESPN is unable to include him in the lottery for a chance to win the $20, 000 and a trip to Maui.&nbsp;</p><p>"I feel pretty bad about it," <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102566326">Holtz told CNBC.</a> "I beat everyone that was older than me. Since I did that I think I should get the prize somebody older than me is getting."</p><p>He may not be eligible to win the prize money or take the tropical vacation but his mother did allow him to stay home from school Tuesday.&nbsp;</p><p>“He wanted to go to school today, but I kept him home because ESPN said they planned to call this morning,” she told the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/espn-denies-12-year-old-near-perfect-ncaa-bracket-20k-article-1.2176768"><em>Daily News</em></a>. “He wants to go this afternoon, but I told him if <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/jimmy-kimmel">Jimmy Kimmel</a> calls, he’s going to have to miss that too.”</p><p>If nothing else, he has got to be the coolest sixth-grader on campus.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/royluck/4827899943">Roy Luck</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
mprice@dailydot.com (Melanie Price)Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:47:13 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/sports/sixth-grader-won-ncaa-bracket-lost/SportsUpstreamWisconsin fan dressed as a Teletubby perfectly captures these trying timeshttp://www.dailydot.com/unclick/po-wisconsin-duke-final-four-teletubby/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/05/24/0524229b385894b14e326969aaa0f08c.jpg'></p>The Duke Bluedevils won Coach Mike Krzyzewski his fifth NCAA men's basketball title Monday night with a breakneck finish against the Wisconsin Badgers. It's no secret that Americans were <a href="https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/585253277761155072">rooting for the Badgers</a>—Duke is a dominant power tethered to an elite private school that is good at lacrosse.<p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2tldmluY29sbGllci9zdGF0dXMvNTg1MjgxNjkwOTc4OTEwMjA4IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p>Nevermind that Coach K is an innovative genius that's evolved with the times and won a gold medal in his spare time. It's OK to revere Coach K and simultaneously detest Duke. The program spawned that golf polo monster <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/christian-laettner">Christian Laettner</a>, after all, and on Monday rode that pimply faced <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRaceDraft/status/585260736579907584">Ted Cruz lookalike</a> Grayson Allen and his 16 big points—including a run where he scored eight straight for the Blue Devils—to the 'ship.</p><p>Americans love to turn to poignant symbolism during trying times. Luckily, we didn't have to look very far Monday night.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0tyaXN0ZW5MZWRsb3cvc3RhdHVzLzU4NTI4MjczNDgyMzcwMjUyOCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>The Wisconsin fan, dressed as the red Teletubby, Po, is now Internet folklore. A status symbol applicable to any situation, and a barometer for how we all feel right now.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2V2Y29uL3N0YXR1cy81ODUyODM1Nzg0OTEwODQ4MDAiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0xhaGxhaGxpbmRzZXkvc3RhdHVzLzU4NTI4MzYyNjg1NTYwNDIyNCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0F1c3Rpbkh1bnQvc3RhdHVzLzU4NTI4Mjk4NjU0OTA3NTk2OCIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0Jlc3RWaW5lc3RiaC9zdGF0dXMvNTg1MjgzNTk3NjMzODU5NTg0IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><em>Photo via Kristen Ledlow/Twitter</em><p></p><p></p>ramon@dailydot.com (Ramon Ramirez)Tue, 07 Apr 2015 03:59:58 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/po-wisconsin-duke-final-four-teletubby/SportsTwitterUnclickHere's every March Madness heartbreaker in a single soulful montagehttp://www.dailydot.com/unclick/march-madness-buzzer-beater-notre-dame-villanova-piccolo-girl/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/78/20/7820958fff619b3c2348d5d5c4d5ccea.jpg'></p>
<p>I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I watch sports, it’s not about the game. I’m in it for the chance to see grown men weep on live TV—and maybe, if I’m really lucky, some teary-eyed kids who just realized that their idols are capable of failure.</p><p>All this misery and more can be had in the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/ncaa/" target="_self">NCAA</a>’s <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/" target="_self">March Madness</a>, whose brutal elimination process ensures dashed dreams galore. And now you can relive every soul-shredding moment from the 2015 tournament in one fell swoop, thanks to this lovely compilation. From Notre Dame’s missed buzzer beater against Kentucky to <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/villanova-piccolo-girl-played-with-the-roots/" target="_self">sad Villanova piccolo girl</a>, the anguish is constant, keen, and (almost) completely justified.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3lvdXR1LmJlLzUzYlRTSWxOMlRBIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>It’s so nice that we can get together and share a good cry about nothing sometimes.<p></p><p><em>Photo via </em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric31415/5931986666" target="_blank"><em>Eric Wong</em></a><em>/</em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric31415/" target="_blank"><em>Flickr</em></a><em> (CC BY-ND 2.0)</em></p>
miles@dailydot.com (Miles Klee)Mon, 06 Apr 2015 22:15:03 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/unclick/march-madness-buzzer-beater-notre-dame-villanova-piccolo-girl/SportsYouTubeUnclickOscar Robertson's statue has a big rod going up his butthttp://www.dailydot.com/sports/oscar-robertson-statue-rod-butt/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/e5/2c/e52c8ef57e6f44bcd01500188a1605a8.jpg'></p>
<p>Wisconsin big man Frank Kaminsky was awarded on Friday the Oscar Robertson Trophy for United States Basketball Writers Association national player of the year. It's molded after an <a href="http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/oscar/action_oscar_ncaa.jpg">iconic photo</a>.</p><p>In real life, it's a marvel of a feat. But immortalized as a statue? Well, the move translates awkwardly.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2tlbm1lZGxpbi9zdGF0dXMvNTgzOTk3NjYzMDAxMTEyNTc2IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>The 76-year-old Robertson is reportedly <a href="http://www.bearcattalk.com/archive/index.php/t-541.html">kind of a grouch</a> these days—but no word yet on what he thinks of the ridiculous statue commissioned to honor Kaminsky's inside game.<p></p><p></p><p><em>H/T <a href="http://www.brobible.com/sports/article/oscar-robertson-trophy-rod-up-butt/">BroBible</a> | Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2872097385">Cliff</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
<p></p>
ramon@dailydot.com (Ramon Ramirez)Sat, 04 Apr 2015 02:47:40 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/sports/oscar-robertson-statue-rod-butt/SportsTwitterUnclickJimmy Fallon got puppies to predict who will win March Madnesshttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/jimmy-fallon-puppies-march-madness-final-four-the-tonight-show/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/d2/77/d2779e0713626f8cb8fa8ed9e444e74b.jpg'></p>
<p>Filling out your <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/">March Madness</a> bracket takes some knowledge of college <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/basketball/">basketball</a>, but let’s be honest, it also takes a great deal of luck.</p><p>As we've seen many times in the past few weeks, anything can happen on the court. By the time we get to the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/final-four/">Final Four</a>, only the sports gurus and the people who will openly admit not knowing what they're doing still have good brackets. You might as well have small children or animals pick the outcome.</p><p>And that’s what <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/jimmy-fallon/" target="_self">Jimmy Fallon</a> did on <em><a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/the-tonight-show/">The Tonight Show</a></em>. To test his puppy predictors, Fallon set out four bowls of kibble marked with Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan State. The team with the bowl that received the most canine attention, he reasoned, would be the winner.</p><p>If the puppies do get it right, all of college basketball might collectively lose it.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PS1IS3RDTG5PcEhFIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><em>Screengrab via </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKtCLnOpHE" target="_blank"><em>The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon</em></a><em>/YouTube</em><p></p>
michelle@dailydot.com (Michelle Jaworski)Wed, 01 Apr 2015 12:16:23 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/jimmy-fallon-puppies-march-madness-final-four-the-tonight-show/UpstreamDoes Venmo know who will win the NCAA tournament?http://www.dailydot.com/debug/venmo-ncaa-march-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/2b/51/2b510fdae110c401aaca44f712eb745d.jpg'></p>
If your NCAA bracket is totally ruined, you're definitely not alone. Because of a few early upsets, 99 percent of brackets <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/03/19/more-than-99-percent-of-brackets-busted-in-first-3-games/">were busted</a> in the first three games alone. But could <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/venmo">Venmo</a>, your faithful money transferring app, have helped you make better picks?<p>Venmo <a href="http://blog.venmo.com/hf2t3h4x98p5e13z82pl8j66ngcmry/2015/3/27/can-venmo-users-predict-the-march-madness-winner">recently shared</a> the results of an experiment conducted by one of its data scientists, JT Glaze. According to a blog post by the company, to pick out the winners on his bracket, Glaze "looked at the number of times a school name, abbreviation or team mascot was mentioned in the Venmo feed." If <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3026144/lucas-talks-to-fast-company-reviled-venmo-subway-ads-explained">Venmo Lucas</a> likes magic, then Venmo JT likes using his data to make pretty accurate sports betting predictions.</p><p>And the results are actually not that terrible. In the first round, Venmo accurately predicted 21 out of the 32 games. The next round was a little rough, with Venmo only getting eight out of 16 games right. Venmo bested the Elite Eight, getting five out of eight games correct.&nbsp;</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMjkvVmVubW9CcmFja2V0MjAxNS5qcGciLCJjcmVkaXQiOiJ2aWEgVmVubW8iLCJjcmVkaXRMaW5rIjoiaHR0cDovL3N0YXRpYzEuc3F1YXJlc3BhY2UuY29tL3N0YXRpYy81MTJkMDMxYmU0YjBhMjAxZjFhZDQ5MWMvdC81NTE1YWEwM2U0YjBhZDg0MTQyMjM3ZjkvMTQyNzQ4MzE0MTEyMy9WZW5tb0JyYWNrZXQyMDE1P2Zvcm1hdD03NTB3IiwiY2FwdGlvbiI6IiIsIndpZHRoIjoiIiwidGV4dHdyYXAiOiIiLCJ0eXBlIjoiaW1hZ2UifQ.."></div>The Venmo bracket has Kentucky, Oregon, Louisville, and Duke in the Final Four, which is only 50 percent correct. Duke and Kentucky will be playing next week, but against Michigan and Wisconsin respectively, and not Oregon and Louisville.<p></p><p>Glaze used Venmo data to predict that the national title game would be between Duke and Kentucky and that seems consistent with odds predicted by Las Vegas bookers. According to <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/25128484/ncaa-tournament-final-four-betting-lines-and-vegas-odds">Vegas Insider</a>, Kentucky is expected to trounce Wisconsin while Duke is expected to quietly edge out Michigan State in next week's games.</p><p>For what it's worth, Venmo's predictions have faired much better than President Obama's, who <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2413823-ncaa-bracket-2015-latest-on-president-obama-and-experts-final-four-brackets">tragically chose</a> Villanova to make a long run in the tournament. Venmo Lucas 2016.</p><p><em>H/T <a href="http://blog.venmo.com/hf2t3h4x98p5e13z82pl8j66ngcmry/2015/3/27/can-venmo-users-predict-the-march-madness-winner">Venmo</a> |&nbsp;Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/chadcooperphotos/13300562565/in/photolist-mgjRSe-qQDuz3-qFEwAB-qzpiTi-qzpNRt-qEAR1r-q23yac-qFnPfH-qECM1Q-qzi251-qzh9WJ-qzrsA2-qRRpwR-qBdJvU-q11HfC-5A6Hh4-qWWiXb-qEwoFZ-qNG2C7-5A6DWg-qWSwDG-q1efR8-qWNcBR-qNG6rQ-qyqBVA-qPyrTb-qXa5pg-qyqBfh-qWS2qv-qRLXAY-qFb8T9-qXass4-qBmYtX-qXu4jt-qBksTZ-qFbrnB-rbS92k-5A6GpD-qTKwFF-qUDXUy-q1arGV-qTMTJP-qBngJ8-qRuWoJ-pWKDzE-qBdy6L-pWKF39-pX1zJT-qTLrJe-mnBQQK">Chad Cooper</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em></p>
mylestanzer@gmail.com (Myles Tanzer)Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:38:52 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/debug/venmo-ncaa-march-madness/DebugJar Jar trounces Queen Amidala in troubling 'Star Wars' fan votehttp://www.dailydot.com/parsec/jar-jar-amidala-face-off-star-wars-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/c2/7b/c27bf124ecfcd1ed8d42a8fab6d62be5.jpg'></p>
It's no secret that <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/jar-jar-binks/">Jar Jar Binks</a> is one of the most reviled characters in modern film history, let alone in <em><a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/star-wars">Star Wars</a></em>. He's an obnoxious, heinously racist caricature who's been the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000213956/">top spot</a>&nbsp;(or <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/24/star-wars-character-rankings_n_6368818.html">bottom</a>) on endless "<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/top-10-worst-tv-film-characters-time/story?id=10809609">worst character</a>" lists. When his <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/star-wars-deleted-scene-jar-jar-binks/">death video emerged</a> in 2013, fans actually celebrated.<p>So why is he pummeling Queen Amidala in the <a href="http://www.starwars.com/this-is-madness"><em>Star Wars</em>&nbsp;March Madness</a> competition?</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMjYvU2NyZWVuX1Nob3RfMjAxNS0wMy0yNl9hdF81LjAyLjI1X1BNLnBuZyIsImNyZWRpdCI6IlN0YXIgV2FycyBNYWRuZXNzIiwiY3JlZGl0TGluayI6IiIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJ3aWR0aCI6IiIsInRleHR3cmFwIjoiIiwidHlwZSI6ImltYWdlIn0."></div><p></p><p>Fans have been handwringing all day over the inexplicable beating that Padmé is taking against Jar Jar. <a href="http://dailydot.com/communities/twitter">Twitter</a> has been more or less <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&amp;q=padme%20jar%20jar&amp;src=typd">beside itself</a>:</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL01vbXlzbG92ZS9zdGF0dXMvNTgxMTcxMzA2OTY5NzMxMDcyIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2tpY2tnYWx2YW5pYy9zdGF0dXMvNTgwOTY5NTI0NDAyMzM1NzQ2IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2JyaWFuX25vdi9zdGF0dXMvNTgxMDI1MjE4MzkyNTQzMjMzIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL01ETVJOL3N0YXR1cy81ODEwNzIzNTk1NTk0MjYwNDgiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div>But not everyone was so quick to join the parade—despite <a href="http://rebelsscreens.tumblr.com/post/114676577609/hahahaha-vote-jar-jar-because-people-are-haters">a brief rally</a> earlier in the day, Padmé is trailing further behind than ever.&nbsp;<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3RoZXBpcHNxdWVha3Mvc3RhdHVzLzU4MDk2NjUxMTkzNTc4MjkxMiIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL3ZhbXByaWN5b2RhL3N0YXR1cy81ODEwNjcyOTAwNDI2MTM3NjAiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0plZGlNYXJlay9zdGF0dXMvNTgxMDQ0MTA5ODgxNjkyMTYwIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2thaXJhdGhlc2hhZG93L3N0YXR1cy81ODEwNDk4NzA5NzIxNTM4NTYiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0NvcnlHYWxsYWhlci9zdGF0dXMvNTgxMDQxODczNzY4MzI1MTIxIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Over on Wookieepedia, where StarWars.com encouraged fans to create their own brackets, the hatred was even more pronounced.<br><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMjYvU2NyZWVuX1Nob3RfMjAxNS0wMy0yNl9hdF81LjE2LjIxX1BNLnBuZyIsImNyZWRpdCI6Ildvb2tpZWVwZWRpYSIsImNyZWRpdExpbmsiOiJodHRwOi8vc3RhcndhcnMud2lraWEuY29tL3dpa2kvV29va2llZXBlZGlhX0NvbnRlc3RzOlByZWRpY3RfdGhlX01hZG5lc3MiLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiXCJKYXIgSmFyIGlzIGxpZmVcIiIsIndpZHRoIjoiIiwidGV4dHdyYXAiOiIiLCJ0eXBlIjoiaW1hZ2UifQ.."></div><p></p><p>As frequently happens with online polls, accusations have <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/2z8zim/this_is_madness_7_hours_left_to_vote_for_the/cpgq8ls">abounded</a> that fans on Wookieepedia and <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/4chan">4chan</a>&nbsp;have been running scripts to generate the results they want in the challenge. That would be nothing new. The trolls of <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/b/" target="_self">/b/</a>, 4chan’s infamous "random: subforum, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/news/4chan-mountain-dew-name-contest/" target="_self">once had Mountain Dew naming a new flavor after Hitler</a>.</p><p>Sure enough, over on 4chan, "Operation Jar Jar" was in full effect Thursday. The pranksters intended to make no-name Bib Fortuna and universally reviled Binks the two most popular characters in <em>Star Wars</em> history. The goal is to have these two face off in the final round. No Luke, no Vader, just Bib and Jar-Jar.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMjYvc3RhcndhcnNpbWFnZTEuSlBHIiwiY3JlZGl0IjoiNGNoYW4ub3JnIiwiY3JlZGl0TGluayI6IiIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJ3aWR0aCI6IiIsInRleHR3cmFwIjoiIiwidHlwZSI6ImltYWdlIn0."></div>While the goal may just be to prank the results, it's frustrating to see one of the only two main female characters in the entire franchise be subject to what looks like vote-rigging. So far in this first round, all of the female characters listed except Leia have lost—and she was paired off against another minor female character.<p></p><p>Not only is the message being sent that fans would literally rather vote for a racist stereotype than a female character, but it's coming at the worst possible time. Geek girls are <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/star-wars-rebels-women-lack-merchandise/">already protesting</a> the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/geek/hasbro-princess-leia-black-series-action-figures/">lack</a> of women-oriented merchandise for the upcoming franchise reboot.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL2Nocm9tYWRhMzE0L3N0YXR1cy81ODExOTQwMjAyNTgzNjk1MzYiLCJ0eXBlIjoib2VtYmVkIn0."></div>"It's important because right now, it looks like no one appreciates or even likes the female characters in [<em>Star Wars</em>],"&nbsp;<a href="http://becauseofloki.tumblr.com/post/114693767571/ok-so-thisll-be-the-second-post-in-two-days-about">wrote becauseofloki</a> on <a href="http://dailydot.com/communities/tumblr">Tumblr</a>. "And since this voting is taken at least a little bit seriously, it could mean that we don’t get much more than the few female characters we currently have."<p></p><p>Chin up, <em>Star Wars</em> fans. It appears StarWars.com is already weeding out the fake votes. Princess Leia faces off against R2-D2 in the next round, and if there's anything that can send a message that girls in the fandom should be taken seriously, it's watching our favorite overlooked Jedi Knight trounce everyone's favorite droid.</p><p><i>This story has been updated with more information about 4chan's raid.</i></p><p><em>Additional reporting by Luke Winkie.</em></p><p><em>Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/inacentaurdump/3394815666/sizes/o/">inacentaurdump</a>/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)</em><br></p>
aja@dailydot.com (Aja Romano)Thu, 26 Mar 2015 23:14:17 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/parsec/jar-jar-amidala-face-off-star-wars-madness/TumblrUpstreamParsecThe secret to undefeated Kentucky: A Super Smash Bros. addictionhttp://www.dailydot.com/parsec/kentucky-super-smash-bros/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/16/ab/16ab3a42e7d5ddd1ed15ef3411f125c3.jpg'></p>
<p>Everyone wants to know the secret behind perhaps the greatest college basketball team of all time. Is it training? Is it coaching? Is it talent?</p><p>Turns out, it's a video game.</p><p>The still-undefeated, 36-0 Kentucky Wildcats have a secret weapon up their sleeves: <em>Super Smash Bros.</em> for Nintendo 64. The 16-year-old game started as a simple distraction for the world-class players, but quickly turned into a source of&nbsp;camaraderie&nbsp;and competition.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PWR2M3J2MXZWTWI4IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>The players have even assigned one another characters based on the way they play. Tyler Ulis is the lightning-quick Pikachu, while Dakari Johnson is Donkey Kong. And EJ Floreal?<p></p><p>"EJ's Fox because he's a cheater," says a bitter Aaron Harrison.</p><p>At this point, Brian Long is the team's anchor in case a&nbsp;<em>Smash</em>&nbsp;crew battle starts. But even if it doesn't, the N64 classic remains exactly what Kentucky needs to recharge, regroup, and remain friends—even as the road to perfection gets significantly bumpier this weekend.</p><p><em>Photo via&nbsp;Nintendo</em></p>
ianjbark3r@gmail.com (Ian J. Barker)Thu, 26 Mar 2015 21:48:16 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/parsec/kentucky-super-smash-bros/SportsYouTubeParsecJimmy Kimmel proves people will say anything to sound smart about March Madnesshttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/jimmy-kimmel-lie-witness-news-march-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/e7/e4/e7e4039348bf6a8677ec492e73c236d7.jpg'></p>
<p><a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/" target="_self">March Madness</a> has already had its share of upsets and insane moments, but it’s nothing compared to the big stories that people make up when they're talking to&nbsp;<a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/jimmy-kimmel/" target="_self">Jimmy Kimmel</a>’s team.</p><p>At this point, you'd think enough people had seen Kimmel's "<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/lie-witness-news/">Lie Witness News</a>" segments that the late-night host would have a hard time finding people willing to risk a televised lie. In this video, the show's producers grill random people on the street about&nbsp;the highlights of the <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/ncca/">NCAA</a> basketball tournament, and true to form, they don’t know a thing.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PXBKQUZTQ2NCU3FFIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p>We’re glad that the bitter rivalry between the University of Phoenix and DeVry University is finally getting the prime time attention it deserves. The incredible story of Gonzaga’s 8-year-old prodigy similar deserves the spotlight that one passerby gives it. And would it really surprise anyone if&nbsp;<a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/kanye-west/" target="_self">Kanye West</a>&nbsp;performed with those giraffes (in a possible upstaging of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/super-bowl-dancing-sharks/" target="_self">Katy Perry’s Super Bowl performance</a>)?<em>&nbsp;</em></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><em>Screengrab via </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJAFSCcBSqE" target="_blank" style="font-family: 'Georgia Regular', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif, 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', Symbola, EmojiSymbols;"><em>Jimmy Kimmel Live</em></a><em style="font-family: 'Georgia Regular', Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif, 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', Symbola, EmojiSymbols;">/YouTube</em></p><p></p>
michelle@dailydot.com (Michelle Jaworski)Thu, 26 Mar 2015 16:04:53 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/jimmy-kimmel-lie-witness-news-march-madness/SportsUpstreamVillanova's 'crying piccolo girl' got to play her fight song with the Rootshttp://www.dailydot.com/upstream/villanova-piccolo-girl-played-with-the-roots/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/49/af/49afafcee9c1dc48a6516aecaa46328c.jpg'></p>
<p>An entire nation consumed by&nbsp;<a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/" target="_self">March Madness</a>&nbsp;became&nbsp;<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/lanesainty/this-piccolo-player-cried-when-her-team-lost-and-now-shes-a#.yddQ887dv" target="_blank">obsessed</a> with a crying Villanova piccolo player after the Wildcats’ loss to N.C. State on Saturday. But things are certainly looking up for her now.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9PWUhLUXJFelZhOSIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><p></p><p>Villanova senior Roxanne Chalifoux has been <a href="http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/03/23/villanova-crying-piccolo-girl-on-94wip-i-think-its-funny/" target="_blank">making the media rounds</a> ever since becoming a meme, and although her time playing for the school’s basketball team may be over this year, she got to play Villanova’s fight song one last time with an even bigger band: <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/the-roots/">the Roots</a>.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PWdKZkJXcmpjbDRJIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>She also got plenty of ice cream, swag, and <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/taylor-swift/" target="_self">Taylor Swift</a> concert tickets from <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/jimmy-fallon/" target="_self">Jimmy Fallon</a>, proving that winning a tournament might not always be the greatest outcome. And if anybody knows how to help heal heartbreak, <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-tumblr-breakup-mixtape/" target="_self">it’s Taylor Swift</a>.<p></p><p><em>Screengrab via </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJfBWrjcl4I" target="_blank"><em>The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon</em></a><em>/YouTube</em></p>
michelle@dailydot.com (Michelle Jaworski)Tue, 24 Mar 2015 14:58:34 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/villanova-piccolo-girl-played-with-the-roots/UpstreamUnclickTrevor Lacey has winning assist for N.C. State—and sideline reporterhttp://www.dailydot.com/sports/trevor-lacey-sweat-dana-jacobson/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/1c/4d/1c4d524160bd64b26a8d428965f9c02e.jpg'></p>
<p>With his team down by a point against LSU late in a first-round March Madness game, N.C. State junior guard Trevor Lacey drove the lane but couldn't find his shot. Instead, he passed off the ball to BeeJay Anya, who then hit the game-winning shot to advance the Wolfpack into the next round of the NCAA tournament.</p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PTZCdWMtUTlPNl9FIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p>In an interview moments after his team overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to upend the Tigers, Lacey noticed he'd dribbled sweat on the sleeve of sideline reporter Dana Jacobson. So he did what any chivalrous man would do: sopped up the perspiration with his finger, slyly wiped the moisture on his jersey, and gave a knowing smile to the audience at home.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PWZDWFJyd1Z2VzVZIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Lacey leads N.C. State in points per game and is second in assists; his nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists on Thursday are a big reason the eighth-seeded Wolfpack are moving on to face No. 1 Villanova on Saturday. But until then, let's give Lacey kudos for destroying LSU's season and trying to clean up some of the mess afterward. &nbsp;<p></p><p><em>H/T <a href="https://twitter.com/WillBrinson/status/578772774610726913" target="_blank">Will Brinson</a>/<a href="https://twitter.com/WillBrinson">Twitter</a></em> |&nbsp;<em>Photo via&nbsp;</em><em><a href="https://twitter.com/WillBrinson/status/578772774610726913" target="_blank">Will Brinson</a></em><em>/<a href="https://twitter.com/WillBrinson">Twitter</a></em></p>
jkatzowitz@thedailydot.com (Josh Katzowitz)Fri, 20 Mar 2015 14:41:23 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/sports/trevor-lacey-sweat-dana-jacobson/SportsMarch Madness 3-pointer so clutch that coach literally falls out of his chairhttp://www.dailydot.com/sports/march-madness-3-pointer-rj-hunter-baylor-georgia-state-ncaa/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/6a/88/6a88b26484c116de3890bd020f69bd6f.jpg'></p>
<p>About that whole "madness" thing.</p><p>Following a breakneck afternoon wherein Cinderellas refused to go home at midnight, a series of high-profile schools and seeds are done with their <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/ncaa">NCAA</a> Tournament bids earlier than projected. That'd be No. 3-seed Iowa State (which fell to the University of Alabama-Birmingham); and more dramatically No. 3-seed Baylor, a school undone by pesky, 14-seeded Georgia State and a game-winning, long-range 3-pointer so good that coach Ron Hunter fell out of his chair.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PXdJRXpabDM2YVJNIiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3R3aXR0ZXIuY29tL0JheHRlckhvbG1lcy9zdGF0dXMvNTc4NjQ4NDQ5MjY2MTE4NjU2IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div>Hunter's son, R.J., not only drilled the bucket but was also responsible for 12 late points during a 13-0 Georgia State run that carried it past Baylor. Coach Hunter <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/ron-hunter-tears-achilles-georgia-state-win/">tore his Achilles last weekend when his Panthers won the Sun Belt Conference to get in</a>—hence the chair.<p></p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9PVlp4SUxPNWlnVyIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div><p>But whatever, pain is temporary.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3ZpbmUuY28vdi9PWXVFYjdCUTd0ViIsInR5cGUiOiJvZW1iZWQifQ.."></div>In a year when an overwhelming majority of brackets defaulted to the dominant Kentucky Wildcats, winning an office pool will come down not to the end, but to who had what early on. In the immortal words of Kramer, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwH__x6jV6A">I'm out</a>."<p></p><p></p><p><em>Screengrab via <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/game/214?iid=mml2015_mm_landing_page">NCAA.com</a></em></p><p></p>
ramon@dailydot.com (Ramon Ramirez)Thu, 19 Mar 2015 22:13:05 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/sports/march-madness-3-pointer-rj-hunter-baylor-georgia-state-ncaa/SportsVineUnclickR.L. Stine wants you to choose the greatest 'Goosebumps' book of all timehttp://www.dailydot.com/parsec/rl-stine-goosebumps-monster-madness/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/53/9d/539d10571d745f28eb15970ea136186d.jpg'></p>
Forget <a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/march-madness">March Madness</a>: We'll take a front-row seat to <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/rl-stine/">R.L. Stine</a>'s Monster Madness all month long.<p>Publisher Scholastic is hosting an epic tournament to choose the best of Stine's spine-tingling hits. Nineties kids, now's your chance to duke it out over whether your favorite <em><a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/goosebumps">Goosebumps</a></em>&nbsp;book is the scariest.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMTcvcmxzdGluZS1kZWFkaG91c2UuanBnIiwiY3JlZGl0IjoiR29vZHJlYWRzIiwiY3JlZGl0TGluayI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lmdvb2RyZWFkcy5jb20vYm9vay9zaG93LzEyNTU1My5XZWxjb21lX3RvX0RlYWRfSG91c2UiLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiIiwid2lkdGgiOiI1MDAiLCJ0ZXh0d3JhcCI6IiIsInR5cGUiOiJpbWFnZSJ9"></div><p></p><p>The official&nbsp;<em>Goosebumps</em>&nbsp;<a href="http://dailydot.com/communities/tumblr">Tumblr</a>&nbsp;is <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113187537852/are-you-ready-to-determine-the-ultimate-goosebumps">hosting</a> the voting, which features the 62 original <em>Goosebumps</em> books published between 1992 and 1997, plus two more published in 2000.&nbsp;</p><p>The match-ups are posted in four divisions: <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113885216872/monster-madness-round-1-voting-curly-division">Curly</a>, <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113791310377/monster-madness-round-1-voting-slappy-division">Slappy</a>, <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113806228197/monster-madness-round-1-voting-horrors-division">Horrors</a>, and <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113900678802/monster-madness-round-1-voting-lawn-gnomes">Lawn Gnomes</a>. If this sounds exciting to you, you're probably one of the many kids who devoured Stines' classic scare-fests. And you probably want to head over to the brackets and vote.</p><p>Participants can also fill out their Monster Madness bracket and <a href="http://goosebumps.tumblr.com/post/113187537852/are-you-ready-to-determine-the-ultimate-goosebumps">email it to Scholastic</a>&nbsp;to be entered in a contest to predict the winner and highest vote-getters.&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="">The winner of the highest-scoring bracket will receive a signed copy of the book chosen as the Ultimate Goosebumps book, copies of the other 3 books in the top 4, and an exclusive Goosebumps tee shirt!</blockquote><p>Although we love <em>Goosebumps</em>, we couldn't begin to predict which of the 64 books will take the prize. A quick glance at <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/41246-goosebumps">the series</a> on&nbsp;<a href="http://dailydot.com/tags/goodreads">Goodreads</a> shows that the highest-rated of the books is actually #16, <em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125540.One_Day_at_Horrorland">One Day at Horrorland</a></em>, a book so popular it prompted Stine to return to the setting multiple times and eventually give it a spinoff series, <em><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/45261-goosebumps-horrorland">Goosebumps Horrorland</a>.</em></p><p><em></em></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMTcvcmxzdGluZS1ob3Jyb3JsYW5kLmpwZyIsImNyZWRpdCI6Ikdvb2RyZWFkcyIsImNyZWRpdExpbmsiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5nb29kcmVhZHMuY29tL2Jvb2svc2hvdy8xMjU1NDAuT25lX0RheV9hdF9Ib3Jyb3JsYW5kIiwiY2FwdGlvbiI6IiIsIndpZHRoIjoiNTAwIiwidGV4dHdyYXAiOiIiLCJ0eXBlIjoiaW1hZ2UifQ.."></div><p></p><p>However, an ongoing <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7014.The_Best_of_Goosebumps">reader-created poll</a> on the website to rank the best of the series currently has #7, <em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125564.Night_of_the_Living_Dummy">Night of the Living Dummy</a></em>, ranked in first. And no wonder—after all, this is the terrifying doll, "Slappy," that gave its name to the "Slappy" division of the challenge and still haunts our dreams.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-image" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiIvL2NkbjAuZGFpbHlkb3QuY29tL3VwbG9hZGVkL2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC8yMDE1LzMvMTcvcmxzdGluZS1kdW1teS5qcGciLCJjcmVkaXQiOiJHb29kcmVhZHMiLCJjcmVkaXRMaW5rIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZHJlYWRzLmNvbS9ib29rL3Nob3cvMTI1NTY0Lk5pZ2h0X29mX3RoZV9MaXZpbmdfRHVtbXkiLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiIiwid2lkdGgiOiI1MDAiLCJ0ZXh0d3JhcCI6IiIsInR5cGUiOiJpbWFnZSJ9"></div><p></p><p>And then of course, there's #1,&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125553.Welcome_to_Dead_House">Welcome to&nbsp;Dead House</a></em>, the one that started it all, which has the bonus of popularity—it's the book with the most number of ratings and reader reviews on Goodreads—and nostalgia on its side.</p><p>What do you think? Will <em>Dead House</em>&nbsp;go head to head with <em>Horrorland</em>? Will the terrifying dummy take on the killer camera from #4,&nbsp;<em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125662.Say_Cheese_and_Die_">Say Cheese and Die</a></em>? Or will something totally unexpected take the crown?</p><p>We have no idea, but we'll be biting our nails till the end of the month.</p><p><em>Photo via <a href="http://wicker123.deviantart.com/art/Slappy-That-Someone-Made3-148135651">wicker123</a>/deviantART (CC BY 3.0)</em></p>
aja@dailydot.com (Aja Romano)Wed, 18 Mar 2015 19:32:33 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/parsec/rl-stine-goosebumps-monster-madness/TumblrUpstreamParsecThese expert toddlers explain how to fill out your March Madness brackethttp://www.dailydot.com/sports/march-madness-espnu-little-experts/<p><img src='http://cdn0.dailydot.com/cache/76/b6/76b6aef074e67a8269fff393fabcb0a7.jpg'></p>
<p>Have your <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/tags/march-madness/" target="_self">March Madness</a> brackets handy? It’s Darth Vader Stormtroopers for the win.</p><p>So says one of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-YBkfpuXmA" target="_blank">Little Experts</a>, a group of toddlers who appear on ESPNU with a knack for picking the winners when it goes to collegiate sports. <a href="https://twitter.com/espn_schick" target="_blank">Matt Schick</a> plays the straight man for three young boys who say specialize in what essentially amounts to a series of hilarious non-sequiturs to sports-related questions.</p><p></p><div class="ddgce-embed ddgce-embedded-oembed" contenteditable="false" data-value="eyJ1cmkiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS93YXRjaD92PTFyV1dBb1FKeFY0IiwidHlwZSI6Im9lbWJlZCJ9"></div><p>Young Paxson accurately points out that the key to winning your office March Madness tourney is the cheerleaders. Coen says the Cinderella team in this year’s matchups will be his sister Tate. When it comes to selecting the sleeper team, things go hilariously off the rails when Paxson claims he sleeps really well after his mommy and daddy go to bed.</p><p>You have to hand it to these young experts, because they nailed it when they gave the raspberries and a huge thumbs down to a few of the mascots, most notably Spike the Bulldog from Gonzaga. They also know a thing or two about coaches, with bowtie-wearing Niam stating that Kentucky's John Calipari is the best coach, and will win 180 games in the next several weeks.&nbsp;</p><p>It’s your choice to take these youngins seriously with their pearls of wisdom, but based on some of the bracketology making the rounds online, their guesses are better than most.</p><p><em>Screengrab via ESPNU</em></p>
allen@dailydot.com (Allen Weiner)Wed, 18 Mar 2015 00:51:37 +0000http://www.dailydot.com/sports/march-madness-espnu-little-experts/SportsYouTubeUpstream